With such a large volume of material accessible from the World Wide Web, there is an urgent need to increase our knowledge of factors in#uencing reading from screen. We investigate the e!ects of two reading speeds (normal and fast) and di!erent line lengths on comprehension, reading rate and scrolling patterns. Scrolling patterns are de"ned as the way in which readers proceed through the text, pausing and scrolling. Comprehension and reading rate are also examined in relation to scrolling patterns to attempt to identify some characteristics of e!ective readers. We found a reduction in overall comprehension when reading fast, but the type of information recalled was not dependent on speed. A medium line length (55 characters per line) appears to support e!ective reading at normal and fast speeds. This produced the highest level of comprehension and was also read faster than short lines. Scrolling patterns associated with better comprehension (more time in pauses and more individual scrolling movements) contrast with scrolling patterns used by faster readers (less time in pauses between scrolling). Consequently, e!ective readers can only be de"ned in relation to the aims of the reading task, which may favour either speed or accuracy.

Abstract. The primary objective of this paper is to critically evaluate empirical research on some variables relating to the configuration of text on screen to consolidate our current knowledge in these areas. The text layout variables are line length, columns, window size and interlinear spacing, with an emphasis on line length due to the larger number of studies related to this variable. Methodological issues arising from individual studies and from comparisons among studies are identified. A synthesis of results is offered which provides alternative interpretations of some findings and identifies the number of characters per line as the critical variable in looking at line length. Further studies are needed to explore the interactions between characters per line and eye movements, scrolling movements, reading patterns and familiarity with formats.

With increasing use of the World Wide Web, rapid scanning or skimming of material on screen has become a frequent activity. However, the outcome of this method of reading has not been thoroughly investigated. Using a range of question types, comprehension was measured after reading from screen at both a normal and fast reading speed. In addition, by automatically recording how readers scrolled through each document, reading patterns were explored. A speed-accuracy trade-off was found and, in general, the recall of specific details was less accurate than responses to`higher order' questions. However, questions that addressed the structure of the text were hardest. Analysis of the scrolling movements showed that the overall time spent pausing between movements was the best predictor of comprehension. At a normal reading speed, the most effective readers, in terms of higher comprehension scores, were those who spent more time between scrolling movements, which were fast and frequent.

Letter identification is a critical front end of the reading process. In general, conceptualizations of the identification process have emphasized arbitrary sets of distinctive features. However, a richer view of letter processing incorporates principles from the field of type design, including an emphasis on uniformities across letters within a font. The importance of uniformities is supported by a small body of research indicating that consistency of font increases letter identification efficiency. We review design concepts and the relevant literature, with the goal of stimulating further thinking about letter processing during reading.Keywords Letter identification . Letter perception . Font . Font tuning . Common features . Type design . Reading Motivated by the increasing realization that letter perception is an important but overlooked stage in the reading process (e.g., Finkbeiner & Coltheart, 2009;Grainger, 2008;Massaro & Schmuller, 1975;Pelli, Burns, Farell, & Moore-Page, 2006), there has been a resurgence of interest in letter perception in relation to reading. It is now clear that letter perception provides a critical front end for reading because letters are functional units; they are independent pieces of the word code (e.g., McClelland, 1976;Oden, 1984;Pelli, Farell, & Moore, 2003). The visual forms of letters exist within a larger structural design, a family of objects known as the type font. This idea has implications for perceptual identification that we begin to develop here.In previous research and theory, a core concept is distinctiveness-the properties that make one letter easy to discriminate from its alternatives in the alphabet. This has led to the central concept of feature detection in the literature (e.g., Fiset et al., 2008;Gibson, 1969;Massaro & Schmuller, 1975). Letters are defined by sets of features whose membership is determined by distinctiveness. If distinctiveness is indeed critical, increasing it through alphabet design should increase legibility. This logic has been recently advocated (e.g., Fiset et al., 2008;Gosselin & Tjan, 2008).1 However, if letter distinctiveness is an incomplete basis for understanding letter processing during reading, calls to redesign letters are premature.A richer view of letter processing incorporates structural relations between letters and originates in the field of type design. Type designers have long been concerned with letter form and its impact on reading. Text fonts are designed for reading continuous paragraphs of text, and the main goal in their design is to produce optimally legible letter forms. Type designers recognize the importance of distinctiveness, but they also emphasize the uniformity of letters (e.g., Carter, Day, & Meggs, 1985;Cheng, 2005). The classical goal of 1 The idea of improving legibility through research and design is not new. Modifications to increase distinctiveness have been explored by Kolers (1969), Crist (1980), and, more recently, Beier andLarson (2010). A modification that was actually used (mainly...

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Examinations are conventionally used to measure candidates' achievement in a limited time period However the in uence of text layout on performance may compromise the construct validity of the examination An experimental study looked at the e ects of the text layout on the speed and accuracy of a reading task in an examinationtype situation. A survey of the reading strategies used in examinations was conducted to help in de ning the reading context in which text layout may have an e ect A set of guidelines was also derived from research on typographic features of text and these were used to select three text layouts (intended to be more or less legible) from the layouts used in English language reading examinations. Results of the experiment showed that task time was signi cantly shorter and the number of correct answers per second was signi cantly higher with the layout conforming to legibility guidelines. Participants' judgements indicated that this layout was also the easiest in which to nd answers and the most attractive. The main conclusion of the study is that text layout a ects performance in a task that involves reading text to search for speci c information in order to answer questions on it under time pressure Consequently the construct validity of examinations may be compromised by confounding legibility with reading skills. AbstractIntroduction

These experiments looked at specific components of melodic contour, reversals in pitch, and nonreversals, using a short-term recognition memory paradigm. Listeners found it easier to discriminate between same and different melody pairs if changes occurred at contour reversals. This result was independent of rate of presentation, suggesting that the salience of upper and lower reversals is not attributable to a form of perceptual streaming. These results suggest an analogy between auditory and visual contours. If melodic contour is represented as a series of pitches extending over time, then reversals can be interpreted as "comers" and nonreversals &s "slopes." The results are consistent with a global strategy of perceptual analysis whereby comers are more salient because they "define the figure." An alternative explanation is that the melodies are processed in a way that is similar to the processing of the intonation pattern of speech. These contour feature effects were drastically reduced when the second melody was transposed and/or following a familiarization procedure. This last result is attributed to a more detailed perceptual analysis being performed under these conditions, a process that is less influenced by contour. Therefore,while specificcontour features, reversals in pitch, playa part in the recognition of untransposed novel melodies, these features are not prevalent in the recognition of transposed and more familiar sequences.In an attempt to understand melody perception, numerous investigators have drawn upon perceptual . principles derived from other modalities. Analogies have been made with the perception of visual figures, and by comparing similarities and differences between modalities the utility of general principles of perceptual organization has been explored. This paper concentrates on the role of melodic contour in the recognition of tone sequences. Here melodic contour is broken down into components, and this represents a departure from the practice of previous workers, such as Dowling and Fujitani (1971). These authors describe contour as the overall pattern or shape of the melody, and this consists of the series of directions of pitch change (the ups and downs in pitch), disregarding the magnitude of the pitch change. The present investigation is designed to examine the perceptual significance of smaller elements of the overall contour, that is, contour components. These are examined in relation to general ideas concerning the perceptual representation of auditory sequences.A number of previous studies have investigated the role of melodic contour in melody recognition. In these studies, either the contour remained the same This work was supported by a grant from SERe. The authors wish to acknowledge the invaluable technical support provided by the Reading Department of Psychology, in particular that of Dave Martin, The authors' mailing address is: Department of Psychology, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading RG6 2AL, England. or the pattern of ups and downs was changed in ...

This paper presents the results of an exploratory study into the influence of picture content and verbal language reading directions on reading procedural pictorial sequences. A sequence of four pictures representing the procedure hrow away after use as tested in four graphic configurations (one-line horizontal, one-line vertical, two-line horizontal and rhomboid), which were designed to be read in specific directions. The same configurations were also presented with the pictures removed to explore the effect of content on reading sequences. The results confirmed that verbal language reading directions are generally used to follow pictorial sequences. However, when the graphic configurations used to represent sequences are unfamiliar and the starting point of the sequence is not clear in the configuration, pictorial content influences the reading direction.